Comedian Brian Regan At Mountain Winery

Brian Regan, who plays at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga this weekend, always re-ties his shoes before walking onstage. After all, it would look really unprofessional if a shoe came off in the middle of his performance.

It’s a mundane ritual, but mundane is gold for Regan. The veteran comedian has made a career spinning witty observations out of the minutia of day-to-day life—the preposterously detailed nature of DMV handbooks, or a driver on his cell phone who thanks the comedian for allowing him to merge by raising a lone pinky finger from his handset. Even something so banal as lacing-up can be turned into a punchline.

“In that sense, I’m also an incredible athlete,” Regan says of his pre-show protocol. “I’m sure Peyton Manning also re-ties his shoes.”

Regan’s 25 years of touring as a standup comedian have always held to a clean, observational humor that highlights the absolutely ordinary. No props or gimmicks—just stories from a father of two who grew up in Miami and likes to play golf (but is “terrible” at it).

“I’m an everyday Joe Blow on stage,” Regan says. “I’m of the people.”

Regan says he draws inspiration from the “average human experience in our culture,” and likens his style of comedy to a Magic Eye poster. “There’s just this weird pattern but you have to keep looking and looking and see there’s a dinosaur,” he says. If you examine any one thing long enough, absurdities will inevitably present themselves.

Regan got his big break when he landed a gig at a comedy club in Ft. Lauderdale. Before long he was living in New York and working to earn his stripes. In the years that followed he was named “Best Club Comedian” by the American Comedy Awards and became a regular on the Late Show with David Letterman. Since 1995 he has made 26 appearances on the program. In 2012, he was one of the first guests booked on Jerry Seinfeld’s web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Though he is known for his animated facial expressions and energetic standup sets, Regan says he doesn’t try to be “the life of the party” when he’s not performing. “When I’m not on stage I like blending into the wallpaper,” he says. “I like to be able to not be funny sometimes.”

Brian Regan performs at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga on Aug. 24 at 5:30pm. More info.